Russian freemasonry

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The first Russian lodges date to the 1730s and 1740s, at the beginning of Empress Elizabeth’s reign, although the members of these were mainly foreigners, particularly Britons and Frenchmen. There is debate as to who should be considered the father of Freemasonry in Russia. In 1731, John Phillips was named Provincial Grand Master of Russia and Prussia by London, but seems to have been little more than a figurehead. General James Keith, who was in the Russian service between 1728 - 1749 was purported to have been Master of a Lodge in St. Petersburg in 1732 - 1734. He was appointed Provincial Grand Master of Russia in 1740, and in general is considered to have introduced Freemasonry into the country. The movement only gained real notoriety in Russia with the appointment by London of the first native Provincial Grand Master, Ivan Perfilievich Elagin, in 1772. He had been a Mason in St. Petersburg since 1750, and was a proponent of the English system. In 1771, a rival system, the Berlin-based Zinnendorf rite, was introduced to the country by Baron P. B. Reichel.

Freemasonry was officially outlawed during the Soviet era, and all but died out. Since the fall of the Communist Government, the Fraternity has been reintroduced following the French model.